Statistics of Male Pattern Baldness (MPB)
- Male pattern baldness is also called androgenic alopecia.
- Androgenic alopecia is a hereditary condition, meaning having a family history of baldness.
- Men who have close relatives with male pattern baldness are at a higher risk of developing male pattern baldness.
- Genetics and male pattern baldness are true when their relatives are on the maternal side of the family.
- Inherited male pattern baldness usually has no side effects.
- Baldness comes from both mother’s and father’s genes.
- Male pattern baldness is associated with male sex hormones called androgens.
- One of the androgens’ many functions is to regulate hair growth.
- 50% of men over the age of 50 years old will be affected by male pattern baldness.
- Male pattern baldness weakens the hair’s natural growth cycle, as a result, the hair follicle shrinks, producing shorter and finer strands of hair.
- Male pattern baldness ends the growth cycle for each hair and no new hair grows.
- Physicians use the pattern of hair loss to diagnose male pattern baldness.
- Physicians perform medical history and examinations to diagnose androgenic alopecia and to rule out health conditions as the cause of hair loss such as fungal conditions of the scalp.
- Skin biopsy and blood tests are also used to diagnose disorders responsible for hair loss.
- An indication of male pattern baldness is when hair loss begins at the temples or the crown of the head.
- Male pattern baldness in men starts with a single bald spot.
- When the hairline recedes to form an “M” shape is a sign of male pattern baldness.
- With male pattern baldness, the hairline will continue to recede until all or most hair is gone.
Hair Loss Statistics 2022
- 64 million Americans, male and female will suffer hair loss by age 30.
- 80% of women will suffer from some kind of hair loss by age 60.
- 65% of men will suffer from some kind of hair loss by age 60.
- 25% of men who have hereditary male pattern baldness start losing their hair before the age of 21.
- 66% of men will have experienced some degree of hair loss by age 35.
- 85% of men will have significantly thinner hair by age 50.
- In 2025, there will be 7.42 million more women than men, at approximately 51.1% of females of the total USA population.
- Male pattern baldness is diagnosed with a device called a densitometer.
- The densitometer is used to assess the degree of miniaturization of the hair follicles.
- In some cases, hair analysis or biopsy is recommended to assess the possibility of poison-induced hair loss.
- The Norwood scale (or Hamilton-Norwood scale) is the leading classification system used to measure male pattern baldness.
Hair Loss Statistics Worldwide
- 35 million men and 21 million women deal with hair loss.
- 40% is the estimated loss rate for men age 35.
- 70% is the estimated loss rate for men age 80.
- It’s estimated that the majority of the adult worldwide population today will lose more hair than their predecessors from previous generations.
- It’s also estimated that more people will require professional services to help them restore their lost hair.
- By age 60, women’s hair loss sufferers will be in the 80% range.
- 47% of people with hair loss are willing to spend their life savings restoring a full head of hair.
- Hair loss is an estimated $1 billion-a-year industry.
- Hair transplants in the United States will pass 231,720 surgeries in 2027.
- 87% of hair transplants surgeries patients in the United States are men.
- $4.9 billion dollars is the market for hair restoration treatments in the United States.
- $11 billion dollars is the projected world market for hair loss treatments in 2027.
- $3.4 billion dollars is the United States hair loss treatment manufacturing revenue in 2022 so far.
- The global hair loss treatment market will be $3773.54 million by 2028.
- The wig and hairpiece market size in the United States will be $366 million in 2022.
- Medical insurance providers typically cover 80.0% to 100.0% of the cost for medical wig cranial prostheses.
- The world market for laser hair loss treatment will reach $318.4 million by 2026.
- Chemical hair treatments such as perms, and strengthening can trigger premature hair loss.
- Wearing tight hairstyles that pull hair such as high ponytails, braids, or protective hairstyles may trigger premature hair loss called alopecia areata.
- The most common cause of hair loss is hereditary thinning or baldness.
- Alopecia areata is increasing among those with employer-sponsored health insurance.
Sources: The Hair Society, Healthline, MedLine Plus, Mayo Clinic, American Hair Loss Association, NuHair, Managed Healthcare.